How to Install Slant Fin Baseboard Heat

Forced hot water baseboard heat is a typically used heating method in many homes across the United States and is known for its simple and yet practical heating it provides. We will describe on how you will want to install it. This lesson will cover how to install the baseboard heating elements only not how to install the actual heating loops or lines.

Step One:

The first thing you will want to do is to take all of the baseboard out of the box and separate all the pieces so that your not tripping over everything as you work. When you open the Slant Fin Baseboard box you will notice that you have the heating element in there as well as the outer shell of the unit.

Take all the pieces and stand then straight up against the wall in each room or where you are adding the baseboard heat.

Step Two:

Once you have all your baseboard out of the box you will want to measure 3 inches off the floor and cut your copper heat loops that size. Please remember if you are adding a tile floor or carpet you might want to raise your baseboard 3/4″ off of the floor by placing a copper coupling at each end of the baseboard before you nail it, but we will get to that in a second, but if you are doing what I describe above make sure to add that number on to the measurement before you cut the heat loop riser.

Step Three:

Once you  have your heat loop risers cut to size you will want to take the backside of the slant fin baseboard casing and place it behind your heat loops and in the space that you will be adding the heat. As we were mentioning before, if you are adding tile later on this would be the time to jack up the backside of that casing before you mail it. To nail the baseboard to the wall, simply just take your 10d penny nails and drive them into the studs that are behind the wall. A good rule of thumb is every two studs or so. This means if you were mailing up a 4″ foot piece of baseboard you would be hitting two studs.

Step Four:

Once you have your baseboard nailed into the wall you can now start laying your heating elements into place and connecting them with the elbows and couplings we listed above. Once you have then all connected you may want to solder all your fittings.

Step Five:

Once you have sweated or soldered all your fittings you can start adding all the baseboard trim and corner caps as need be, you may need to use your tin snips to trim some of these pieces. Once you have everything hooked up you will want to fill these zone with water and check for leaks.

The Material:

~Slant Fin Baseboard
~Slant Fin corner caps
~10d penny nails
~Copper Elbows & Couplings
~Flux and Solder

The Tools:

~Plumbers Torch
~Regular Hammer
~Copper Fitting Brush
~Cheese saw
~Tin Snips
~Copper Tubing Cutter
~Emery Cloth or Steel Wool